Manager says naive Peterborough United Women need to be smarter and stronger
Peterborough United Women’s boss Jake Poole blamed naivety during a poor start to the second-half for his team’s National Northern Premier Division defeat West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.
Posh went down 3-1 on the artificial turf at Redditch FC, a result that left them bottom of the table after three matches, although the lowest seven teams all have three points!
Posh finished the game with 10 players following a red card for Anna Pitt, a decision that mystified Poole. Ellie May scored the Posh goal.
"We were happy at 1-1 at half-time,” Poole said. “It was a game when both attacks had the better of the defences and we had a lot of chances to score as they did.
"But the first 10 minutes of the second-half was poor from us. Our naivety was punished as it had been late on in the previous game. We will learn a lot from it though.
"We were expecting different challenges coming into this league, but we will have to be stronger and smarter at times.
"There were positives though, particularly in the first-half when we looked dangerous, but we also had moments in the second-half.
"The officials had a bit of a guesss with Anna’s second yellow card. She ended up on the floor after their captain ran 40 yards to shove her so I have no idea why she was cautioned again. I wouldn’t say it a great impact on the result though as we were 3-1 down
“Away games are going to be challenging this season and West Brom have some good players, a clear identity and they were fresher than us as they hadn’t played in midweek. That’s not an excuse for us either though.”
Posh are at Northern Premier Division leaders Rugby Borough for a League Cup group tie next Sunday (September 6). Rugby beat Posh 5-0 on the opening day of the league season.